Apparatus for aiding in the snaking out of drainpipes, especially underneath sinks, have been suggested in the past. Examples of such apparatus are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,682,620 and 5,107,550. Other apparatus for cleaning drainpipes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,314,261; 1,760,704; 1,796,340; 1,762,608; 1,861,899; 2,050,365; 2,066,773; and 3,897,601.
Despite these prior attempts, there still exists the need for an apparatus that may be easily carried by a plumber, economically manufactured and adaptable enough to be used with many different sink faucets and drainpipes. Further, prior such attempts which employed a connection to the faucet run the risk of back feeding fluids from the drainpipe into the water pipes and possibly contaminating the water therein. That is, under some circumstances, if the water pressure in the faucet drops below that in the drainpipe to which it is connected by apparatus such as that shown and described in the above mentioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,682,620 and 5,107,550, contaminating drainpipe fluids can flow backwards into the faucet. This may occur if the water pressure to the faucet drops unexpectedly, or if the pressure in the drainpipes increases, or both. There then exists a need for a snake aiding system that prevents such undesirable back flows.